Minor v. Happersett

E330554

United States Supreme Court case legal case voting rights case

Minor v. Happersett was an 1875 U.S. Supreme Court case that held the Constitution did not grant women the right to vote, rejecting the argument that suffrage was a privilege of national citizenship.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Minor v. Happersett canonical	2
Minor v. Happersett women’s suffrage case	1
Virginia Minor v. Reese Happersett	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3133473 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Minor v. Happersett
Context triple: [Morrison R. Waite, presidedOver, Minor v. Happersett]

A. United States v. Cruikshank
United States v. Cruikshank was an 1876 U.S. Supreme Court decision that severely limited federal enforcement of civil rights protections, especially against racially motivated violence in the Reconstruction-era South.
B. Bolling v. Sharpe
Bolling v. Sharpe is a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that held racial segregation in Washington, D.C. public schools unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
C. Ableman v. Booth
Ableman v. Booth was an 1859 U.S. Supreme Court case that affirmed federal supremacy over state courts in enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act before the Civil War.
D. The Prize Cases
The Prize Cases were a landmark 1863 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld President Abraham Lincoln’s authority to blockade Confederate ports without a formal declaration of war, expanding the scope of executive war powers.
E. Kentucky v. Dennison
Kentucky v. Dennison was an 1861 U.S. Supreme Court case that limited federal power by holding that federal courts could not compel state governors to carry out interstate extradition.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Minor v. Happersett
Target entity description: Minor v. Happersett was an 1875 U.S. Supreme Court case that held the Constitution did not grant women the right to vote, rejecting the argument that suffrage was a privilege of national citizenship.

A. United States v. Cruikshank
United States v. Cruikshank was an 1876 U.S. Supreme Court decision that severely limited federal enforcement of civil rights protections, especially against racially motivated violence in the Reconstruction-era South.
B. Bolling v. Sharpe
Bolling v. Sharpe is a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that held racial segregation in Washington, D.C. public schools unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
C. Ableman v. Booth
Ableman v. Booth was an 1859 U.S. Supreme Court case that affirmed federal supremacy over state courts in enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act before the Civil War.
D. The Prize Cases
The Prize Cases were a landmark 1863 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld President Abraham Lincoln’s authority to blockade Confederate ports without a formal declaration of war, expanding the scope of executive war powers.
E. Kentucky v. Dennison
Kentucky v. Dennison was an 1861 U.S. Supreme Court case that limited federal power by holding that federal courts could not compel state governors to carry out interstate extradition.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case ⓘ legal case ⓘ voting rights case ⓘ
areaOfLaw	constitutional law ⓘ election law ⓘ
chiefJusticeAtTime	Morrison Waite ⓘ linked to: Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite
citation	21 Wall. 162 ⓘ 88 U.S. 162 ⓘ
conclusion	States may restrict suffrage to men unless prohibited by specific constitutional amendment ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1875-03-29 ⓘ
decisionType	unanimous decision ⓘ
defendant	Reese Happersett ⓘ
found	Citizenship does not automatically include the right to vote ⓘ Women are citizens of the United States ⓘ
fullCaseName	Virginia Minor v. Reese Happersett ⓘ linked to: Minor v. Happersett
hasParty	Reese Happersett ⓘ Virginia Minor ⓘ
historicalSignificance	Important case in the history of the women's suffrage movement in the United States ⓘ Key precedent limiting the reach of the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause ⓘ
holding	Suffrage is not a necessary privilege or immunity of national citizenship ⓘ The Fourteenth Amendment does not guarantee women the right to vote ⓘ linked to: Fourteenth Amendment The U.S. Constitution does not confer the right of suffrage upon anyone ⓘ
impact	Hindered federal constitutional strategies for women's suffrage ⓘ Rejected constitutional argument that voting is a privilege of national citizenship ⓘ
involves	Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ linked to: Fourteenth Amendment Privileges or Immunities Clause ⓘ linked to: Privileges and Immunities Clause citizenship status of women ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
language	English ⓘ
legalIssue	Fourteenth Amendment interpretation ⓘ privileges or immunities clause ⓘ voting rights ⓘ women's suffrage ⓘ
opinionBy	Chief Justice Morrison Waite ⓘ linked to: Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite
originatedIn	Missouri ⓘ
plaintiff	Virginia Minor ⓘ
precededBy	Slaughter-House Cases ⓘ
relatedCase	Slaughter-House Cases ⓘ United States v. Reese ⓘ linked to: Reese v. United States
relatedTo	Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
status	superseded in effect by the Nineteenth Amendment ⓘ
subjectOf	New Departure strategy in women's suffrage movement ⓘ linked to: Susan B. Anthony’s New Departure strategy
usedBy	opponents of women's suffrage before 1920 ⓘ
yearDecided	1875 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Morrison R. Waite → presidedOver → Minor v. Happersett ⓘ

subject linked to: Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite

Virginia Minor women’s suffrage case → hasLegalCitation → Minor v. Happersett ⓘ

Virginia Minor women’s suffrage case → alsoKnownAs → Minor v. Happersett women’s suffrage case ⓘ

linked to: Minor v. Happersett

Minor v. Happersett → fullCaseName → Virginia Minor v. Reese Happersett ⓘ